Not for the first time do I look forward to reading the BBC's coverage of
severe weather conditions in the UK to my Canadian friends and colleagues. It is the heaviest snowfall in 18 years! The trains are cancelled! People are having to dig themselves out of their houses! They are lost in snowdrifts! There has been 10cm of snow! In a day!
Compare and contrast:
Figure 1: Bicycle in 'snowstruck' London:

Fig 2: Car after one day's snowfall in Montreal last week:
15 comments:
LOL! I knew people over there would be laughing at us!!
Har, har me too! I spoke to a rellie in Bedford, where the schools are closed as they have 3" of snow! And, most of the children and staff have about, oh, 10 minutes journey to get there.
Like you probably do, we have a lot longer to do that, in deeper snow (tho' not as deep as you) here in Scotland.
Ho hum.
of COURSE we are ready for it....NOT!
we are complaining, bitching, and generally behaving as if we have been enveloped in snow to our eyebrows! nobody is clearing paths, or sweeping it away. no gritting is being carried out in my neck of the woods, and we are generally pretty damn stupid.
You see? The rot has set in Minky. You have become Canadian before you are even married!
Are you not even slightly flustered by the sight of that lightly dusted bicycle? Does it not make you want to stay at home with a packet of Rich Tea biscuits and Antiques Roadshow? No? Oh well.
You see? The rot has set in Minky. You have become Canadian before you are even married!
Are you not even slightly flustered by the sight of that lightly dusted bicycle? Does it not make you want to stay at home with a packet of Rich Tea biscuits and Antiques Roadshow? No? Oh well.
Sorry. It was not funny enough to put in twice. My fingers got overwhelmed by the though of an icy patch.
I told my coworker this morning that Canadians would be all, "Snow coming? Better get the snowchains out." Then I saw this post. I love you Canadians.
We have snow tyres actually. Except they are called 'tires' here, as in "Canadian Tire", which is an enormous shop that sells Canadian Tires and scatter cushions. Snow chains are for amateurs and girls, or people driving up mountains.
Seeing as how we in the Vancouver area were so hard-hit by snow last month, I can sympathize with snow-bound Londoners. It's all what you're used to. If you're used to rain, any amount of snow can be quite a shock to the system.
Or really big trucks. I haven't seen snowchains in years. They were murder on the roads.
We got 15 cms of snow yesterday. Fun!
Not.
And as Pinklea said, if you're not used to snow (and have all the paraphenalia needed to deal with it) it can be hard to cope with.
at what point will you go round correcting their appalling spelling?
TYRES please!!!!! your little monkey paws are ADMIRABLY sized for magic markers, methinks....
Sama - at least we Canadians spell words like "colour" and "humour" correctly (though not words like "sympathize" and "encyclopedia"). :)
Yes yes, but "amusingly, in Canada (where we are prepared for bad weather with our tyres and pretty colours!!), there is a great deal of snow; whereas in London, England, if there is more than a little snow, it must be difficult to deal with - because, on the whole, the British are not prepared for it ;-)!!!" doesn't quite have the same ring to it, does it? Or maybe it does. Who can tell.
In Canada, you just don't know what snow is!
The frog
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